This chapter has a lot of mystery and crime in it, as such it is more informative about the case, than fun to read. But I do promise that there will be more Edward angst coming up! This is leading up to something important, so please read carefully!
The three soldiers and one ex-soldier sat in Hawkeye's living room; the room was bare with practically no furniture: a small coffee table sat in between one leather couch and two wooden chairs, beside it was a shaded lamp with a small chain dangling down that would be pulled to alluminate the room. The wall paper was floral, and would have been consitered appropriate if it hadn't been pealing in the upper right corner; a false appeal to the room.
Of course, only Alex Louis Armstrong paid any mind to the way Hawkeye kept her new house: He was the only man in the room who had an appreciation for art, since it was 'Passed down the Armstrong lineage for generations'!
"So," Riza began, her stern personality finally shining through, "what do you have so far on Edward's case?"
Breda rummaged through a sling-bag that he held over his shoulder, causing Havoc to burst into laughter.
"Is that a friggin' purse?!" he gasped between snickers, and Breda blushed in an uncomprehensible way.
"No, it's a military issued bag specialized for undercover spies, like me." Breda responded in a boastful tone, causing Havoc to roar again.
"Are you sure you got the men's?!"
A tick mark formed over Riza's head at Havoc's stupidity; Breda had to keep an unimpressive appearance so that his undercover work could thrive. Though he was right about the feminism of the bag, his laughter was quite immature.
"Havoc." She said sternly. Immediately, heads turned to her, as even though she was no longer their superior, she was still terrifying.
"Y-yes ma'am..?"
"Focus."
Suddenly everyone was alert, ready for action. Riza always had their respect, and since the Colonel was gone they all depended on her to take up some sort of leadership role for them. They needed her.
Breda nodded briskly and pulled out a small, quaint manilla folder that Hawkeye assumed was Edward's file.
"Do tell." Riza said.
Instead, Breda tossed it onto the table, and crossed his legs in a relaxing way. "I can't, since you're not in the military."
She narrowed her eyes at him, thinking to herself; Since when has he started caring about his job..?
Reluctantly, she opened the folder and held the contents inside out in front of her, surprised to find that there was nothing TO say.
"These are all records of train tickets he bought over the past six months." Riza stated flatly, turning her attention toward Breda in question.
"Yeah, do you think I give a shit about all these rules?" He said with a chuckle, "I didn't say anything because there's nothing to say. Ed's file is completely useless."
The group glared at him with daggers, frustrated with his carelessness.
"So why did you bring the file, anyway?" Riza asked, starting to catch on to Breda's reasoning.
"Because," Breda began, "I want you to pay attention to the ticket's he bought two months ago."
Hawkeye paused, not understanding where he was going with this...
She flipped through the records until the dates changed from '6 months' to '4 months'. Her eyes skimmed down the columns, trying to notice any sort of inconsistency when the record changed to two months ago, trying to understand what Breda was thinking.
Dec. 3; Grand Central Station-Outskirt Station
Dec 27; Outskirt Station-Eastward Station
Jan. 13; Eastward Station-Grand Central Station
Jan. 17; Side Central Station-Westwing Station
Feb. 19; Westwing Station-Lower Provence Station
March 23; Lower Provence Station-Upper Main Station
April 2; Upper Main Station- Eastern Station
Riza glanced up at Breda, completely lost. "Well, do you have an explanation?"
He snickered to himself, "The kid travels a lot, doesn't he?"
She frowned. "Breda, do you even have a point, here?"
Havoc and Armstrong flicked their unknowing glances to Breda; surely he had a point...Right..?
They were doubtful.
"My point is the record stops there, but the date is April 2nd. On April 2nd, he went to Eastern Station to report to Mustang; but that's six weeks before his death. Edward wouldn't just sit around planning to kill the Colonel, right?"
Hawkeye nodded her head, Edward had too much on his mind to even imagine killing Roy... to be honest, she doubted he could do it at all, on an emotional stance.
"Okay, and..?"
"Well, if you flip the page in the records, you'll see the sightings of Edward: He was spotted at the Eastern Station on April 4th...yet, there's no record of him traveling to any other locations, or riding the train at all. And, after April 4th, there's no more 1sightings."
Riza scanned the records, reading the many sightings that were made on April 4th... all were saying the same thing; he arrived at Eastern Station. One even suggested that he bought tickets for the train ride, and one stated that they were seated across from him during the travel.
But WHAT did it mean?
"Yeah, I was confused too, Lieutenant Hawkeye," Breda said, "but I've found an answer; Havoc, recite Amendment 27, sector 3, please!"
Havoc stood up at the request, the words flying out of his mouth; "Amendment 27, sector 3 states that in case of international emergency, any and all military personal investigation in any foreign state is to be kept secret in case of sudden warfare, attack, or unsettled agreement, as such any payment leaving Amestris is to be terminated from any and all record to protect both the identity of the innocent or the country in which a non-innocent is a citizen of: Similarly, any and all records of payments of registered citizens of the military entering Amestris will be terminated."
Hawkeye's eyes widened. "So you believe that Edward left the country?"
No words needed to be spoken as Havoc and Breda grinned like idiots; The Amendment was made to protect officers investigating foreign countries, so that if a military conflict arises, the foreign government will not find out that the Amestrian officer is in their country:
So, since Edward was sited on the train, but there were no travel records of that same incident, the record of him leaving Amestris must have been terminated: This ment he must have left the country.
"I see", Riza stated, "And now he's in jail, so the record of him coming back into the country must have been destroyed as well."
Breda nodded his head, since that was also part of the amendment.
Havoc then spoke up; "Well that's great and all, but why do we care if he left the country? It's not like that proves him innocent, since he was also spotted at the crime scene."
Breda shook his head. "I know, actually it makes him look more suspicious."
Riza felt her hands numbly rummage through Ed's file, hoping that she'd find evidence proving otherwise. She was not met with such luck.
"His mission record...it doesn't say anything about having to travel to anywhere outside of the country. And it's weird; it also has a newspaper snippet."
Riza held the newspaper in her hand, reading the article title: Xingeese Terrorist Group Strikes Again!
She breathed in roughly: That's right! There were a series of robberies and attacks on members of the military about a month ago, and if Edward left the country...He looks suspicious of being a part of this terrorist group.
The next morning, Riza found that the four men had fallen asleep on her couch, while she'd passed out in the chair. She could hardly remember anything from the night before, except the details:
Edward had a gap in his record.
Edward had left the country.
Edward wasn't ordered to leave the country.
Edward was looking suspicious of being a part of a Terrorist group.
She moaned to herself, feeling a crook in her neck from the awkward way she'd slept. She stood up and yawned, stretching her exhausted body and tapping Armstrong on the shoulder to wake him. When he woke, he helped her wake the other two men up, which took a lot.
"What..." groaned Havoc, rolling over to spot Riza standing over him. He jumped with mild shock, then rolled his shoulder to calm his stiff muscles down.
Once awake, the three of them turned to her with a confused look on their faces. "Well? What do we do now?" Havoc demanded, popping a cigarette in his mouth which Riza swiftly stole, snapping at him for using the cancer-on-a-stick in her house.
"We're going to see Edward." She stated with determination, and the three blinked blankly back at her.
"Well? Get in the car."
She stood outside his cell, having not seen him since before the incident, she couldn't bring herself to remove her eyes from her feet. But how could she look him in the eyes..? How could she stare at the child she once loved like a son, and still hold that same love in her heart even after he killed the man who she devoted her life to? How could she glare at him with hatred, when this teenager was all alone in his cell, laying in a restricted area and being accused of a crime he might have not committed? How could she doubt him if he was an innocent? How could she forgive him if he'd killed the Colonel? How could she even look at him if she didn't know what kind of look to offer? How?
Her eyes drifted up from the floor...scanning the grime on the walls and the dust on his un-cleaned sheets... She spotted a less-than-half empty tray of grool, and suspiciously beside it was a spot of dried crimson...she took in the filth of his cell and the list of visitors, noticing how few there were...she saw that there was a greenish-brown substance beside the crimson, which she understood was puke, and quite close to that was Ed's old red-cloak; torn and dirty, with spots of a similar color, and some deeper shades of red; blood.
It was grotesque.
When her deep brown eyes finally met Edward's golden one's, all thoughts faded away; He looked...
He looked desperate. He looked lost. He looked confused. He looked lonely.
"Edward..." Was all she could manage.
His head snapped up like an animal's name was being called, and his face changed with the recognition of his name.
But he did not speak.
He looked broken...He looked sollum...He looked depressed...
"Edward," She tried again, "I'm..."
His eyes turned with uncertainty, as though he didn't recognize Riza at all. He shrunk away from her voice with fear, and started backing toward the cement walls behind him.
"I don't know what I believe, Edward..."
He bumped into the walls, pressing his body into them in a feat to escape, clawing at his cell like a rabid dog trapped in a cage with nowhere to run.
He looked targeted...He looked mentally ill...He looked terrified...
...He looked guilty.
And suddenly, Riza saw her body become closer and closer to the earth below her, until her head finally smashed against it.
She fainted.
A/N: Okay! I know that ending was a bit cliche... So...yeah, I know that was probably extremely confusing, so...re-read it..? Honestly I edited it for like an hour after I wrote it and it's not going to get any better. If anybody's completely lost, I'll answer any questions in a review~!
THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS, PLEASE LEAVE SOME MORE FOR INSPIRATION! :)